Baldwinson to captain England Academy in France

England Academy coach Dave Elliott has named his 17-man squad to take on France Under-18s in La Reoule, France, tomorrow (Saturday May 25, 4.30pm).

The Academy squad made the journey across the Channel earlier this week and will be hoping to emulate the success of the England Youth team at Easter by defeating their French counterparts.

Elliott has retained six players from the 2012 tour of Australia in his starting line, including Wigan Warriors half-back pairing George Williams and Ryan Hampshire while Leeds Rhinos forward Jordan Baldwinson will captain the side.

"We know France will be strong and we're expecting a very physical game," said Elliott. "French sides at this level have continued to improve over recent seasons and the majority of their players have come through good youth systems at Catalan Dragons.

"But we have some very talented players in this group and I am confident that they will be able to put together the sort of performance that is required to get a good result.

"Travelling to a different country and contending with different cultures and food is a big learning experience for a lot of these lads and gives the players a great introduction to the kind of challenges they will face at Super League and senior international level."

Rhinos stalwart Kylie Leuluai revealed his delight at reaching Wembley in his final season and says he is looking forward to sharing the day with Jamie Peacock and Kevin Sinfield in their final year too.